Kazakh expert: Ilham Aliyev gave new impetus to further relations of Turkic-speaking states

10 September 2018 19:48 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 10

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave new impetus to further relations of the Turkic-speaking states, having noted the great importance of cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan in the sphere of political and economic relations, as well as deepening ties in the transport sphere in the long term, Karlygash Nugmanova, doctor of political science, director of the Association of Political Studies, professor, said.

Nugmanova, who is also a project manager of the Center for Military-Strategic Research of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan, was commenting on the recent meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with his Kyrgyz counterpart Sooronbay Jeenbekov in Cholpon-Ata city.

Nugmanova noted that the president of Kyrgyzstan, who congratulated the president of Azerbaijan on the centenary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, also expressed readiness for open and informative conversation, and stressed that the next official visit of the Azerbaijani president to Kyrgyzstan would become an important step towards further strengthening of cooperation between the two countries.

On September 3, the Ruh Ordo Cultural Center named after Chinghiz Aitmatov in Cholpon-Ata city of Kyrgyzstan hosted the 6th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, in which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev took part.

Nugmanova said that this event is historic for the Kyrgyz city’s people and for Kyrgyzstan in general, because President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived at the summit, and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban took part in the summit as an honorary guest.

“The next Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, which is considered as a large-scale platform for discussing the most important issues on the international agenda, played an enormous role for close interaction of the countries of the Islamic world,” she noted.

“Unlike the previous summit held in 2012 in Bishkek city, the last summit was attended by leaders of many Turkic-speaking states,” she added. “It is remarkable that at the summit an emphasis was placed on expanding the diversification of economies, transport corridors, improving the investment climate and developing the economic relations among the participating countries.”

In her opinion, it is relevant that the Summit in Cholpon-Ata was held in anticipation of the first five-year anniversary of the large-scale strategic One Belt, One Road Initiative.

“This initiative, which has become the prototype of the new Eastern model of globalization, already brings together more than 200 countries, about 4.4 billion people or almost 53 percent of the world population,” the professor said. “I emphasize this fact, because Kazakhstan is China’s close neighbor and the first country located along the route of the One Belt, One Road Initiative. In my opinion, neighbors from the east, south and south-west will play an important role in the economic and political development of Central Asia and in the situation with security in the region.”

“In the next ten years, the future of Central Asia will be determined by trends that can be seen now,” she noted. “Today, when the experts are summing up the fifth anniversary of the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt, I would like to note that this far-sighted idea has served for the benefit of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey, the countries that are members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States.”

Nugmanova added that in order to intensify cooperation among the member countries of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, it is advisable to focus on training, consulting and support missions as part of own version of the strategy of cooperation among the Turkic-speaking states.

“I believe that such long-term partnership will open up broad prospects for countries to implement new projects aimed at political stability and economic prosperity of the members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States,” she said. “Considering the consequences of the economic crisis, it is relevant to develop an anti-crisis plan for the members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States, and this plan’s draft can be actively discussed by these states.”